Oddball question, but am going to ask it anyway.
A while ago, say mid-1970's to late 1980's, synthetic oils were on the market, and were available, but they were fairly expensive and could be hard to find.
Traditional conventional oils weren't really any hot shakes, so they had problems lasting beyond, say, 5k. The synthetics could do it easily, but as stated, expensive and could be hard to find.
Somewhere along the line, the idea came out that HDEO engine oils could be used as an alternative to get longer drain intervals in gasoline engines. Somebody being 'clever' could buy a HDEO, with its higher additive levels, and go, say, 6k on a drain instead of the standard 3k.
Since fleet or HDEO were not much more expensive than a regular PCMO, they could be treated as the 'poor mans synthetic'.
Here is my somewhat awkward question: Was this a real term or idea that was developed and followed, OR is it just an 'urban myth' that people did this, and the term was coined much later?
Were there articles suggesting people could do this, and did many people actually do it? Have you, or anyone you know, deliberately bought and used HDEO to get extended drains instead of springing for full synthetic oil?
These days, the concept is almost pointless, as with the proliferation of cheaper group III base oils, and most oil companies having a syn oil, they are easy to get at reasonable cost. Also, most cars take a thinner oil than the 15W-40 or 10W-30 that an HDEO is.
Anybody have any anecdotes or thoughts on this?
A while ago, say mid-1970's to late 1980's, synthetic oils were on the market, and were available, but they were fairly expensive and could be hard to find.
Traditional conventional oils weren't really any hot shakes, so they had problems lasting beyond, say, 5k. The synthetics could do it easily, but as stated, expensive and could be hard to find.
Somewhere along the line, the idea came out that HDEO engine oils could be used as an alternative to get longer drain intervals in gasoline engines. Somebody being 'clever' could buy a HDEO, with its higher additive levels, and go, say, 6k on a drain instead of the standard 3k.
Since fleet or HDEO were not much more expensive than a regular PCMO, they could be treated as the 'poor mans synthetic'.
Here is my somewhat awkward question: Was this a real term or idea that was developed and followed, OR is it just an 'urban myth' that people did this, and the term was coined much later?
Were there articles suggesting people could do this, and did many people actually do it? Have you, or anyone you know, deliberately bought and used HDEO to get extended drains instead of springing for full synthetic oil?
These days, the concept is almost pointless, as with the proliferation of cheaper group III base oils, and most oil companies having a syn oil, they are easy to get at reasonable cost. Also, most cars take a thinner oil than the 15W-40 or 10W-30 that an HDEO is.
Anybody have any anecdotes or thoughts on this?
